Many researchers in diagnostic imaging and screening fields have voiced concern that as the technological capabilities of various methods improve, the sheer volume of data produced will become overwhelming, dangerously near the point at which retrieval and evaluation, rather than imaging resolution and effectiveness, are the critical parameters. For example, presently the field of ultrasound diagnostic imaging is being successfully applied to the field of breast screening. Resolutions in the range of 1 millimeter are realistic, yielding tremendous diagnostic capacity but further requiring as many as 100 images needed fully to scan a breast. When it is contemplated that screening centers will process hundreds of patients each day, it becomes evident that the technological capabilities to display detail will far outstrip the clinician's ability to appreciate it.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide image storage and display systems which permit convenient and highly accessible storage facility.
Inevitably, mass screening instruments and programs, such as ultrasound breast screening programs, are falling with the gambit of responsibility of hospital radiology departments. Such departments, of course, have through the years developed considerable expertise in photographic information systems, and have committed themselves to substantial expenditures in the areas of developing, cataloging, and storing records, such as X-ray packs.
It is an associated object of the present invention to utilize established technologies and procedures of information storage which have found widespread acceptance in conjunction with X-ray technology. As associated objects, photographic images are to be obtained with a relative maximum of simplicity and security with respect to the photographic medium during the photographing process, en route to development facilities, and in preparation for development. Furthermore, it is an object that substantial portions of the system be retained as permanent file jackets, records, and entries once the photographic exposure, development, and completion processes are achieved.